Parcel2go Health and Safety Policy gone Gaga!

bertie_17

I bought an antique mirror from ebay for £147 and was going to collect it from West Yorkshire. I saw an advert of Parcel2go (P2G) on ebay. I was curious and got a quote from P2G for £16.74 which was better value and greener, than driving from London. I was unable to pay extra to insure the mirror, as P2G do not cover mirrors.

The mirror was a gift for my parent’s anniversary and had been adequately bubble wrapped by the seller.

CityLink, the couriers used by P2G collected the mirror on the 24 October and I tracked it (P2G16029249) to a delivery depot on the 25th November at 3:58 and I assume it had arrived safely. I was happy and naively thought it would be delivered to me the next day. I waited and waited but eventually had to contact P2G by chat as I did not hear from them and it seemed to be the only way to contact them. They informed me that they would contact the couriers and would let me know within 48 hours. I waited for 48 hours for their call but again I had to call them. This is when they informed me that the mirror had shattered. I asked them if I could have the frame as it was one of the reasons why I had purchased the mirror and gave them clear instructions not to dispose of it and informed them that I would be happy to collect it from the depot. They said that they would contact the couriers and come back to me within 48hours. Once again I waited and waited and yet again I had to make the call. Their operator informed me that the mirror had been disposed off.

I asked him if they kept any evidence to prove that the mirror was shattered before they had disposed off it due to health and safety. It appears that they don't keep any evidence, so I am unable to tell whether there was any negligence on their part or if there was any other reason why I had not received my parcel.

Given that they are not willing to insure the mirror, shouldn't I have been warned at the onset, that the mirror would be disposed off should it get damaged? Or is this in their small prints?

P2G offered £22.76 as compensation as a gesture of their goodwill, which I have not accepted. I’ve written to George Iveson at P2G, [EMAIL="G.Iveson@Parcel2Go.com"]G.Iveson@Parcel2Go.com[/EMAIL] and am awaiting a response.

This bad experience has taught me to pay more and to use more reputable companies, who would hopefully be more accountable for our parcels (that every parcel matters and not just having a delivery success rate of X %), are able to communicate at their earliest if goods are damaged and in this age of technology are hopefully able to provide at least some photographic evidence, even if it is only online so that their clients can be reassured that it was an unavoidable accident and nothing suspicious (given recent documentaries that have highlighted the behavior of some staff at certain courier companies).

Hence I would like to share my experience and hopefully others can carefully consider their choices beyond just costs.

I would be grateful if anyone could advise me on what my rights are, given my situation. Or should I just take their unreasonable compensation and make better choices in future?

visidigi

bertie_17 wrote: »

I bought an antique mirror from ebay for £147 and was going to collect it from West Yorkshire. I saw an advert of Parcel2go (P2G) on ebay. I was curious and got a quote from P2G for £16.74 which was better value and greener, than driving from London. I was unable to pay extra to insure the mirror, as P2G do not cover mirrors.

The mirror was a gift for my parent’s anniversary and had been adequately bubble wrapped by the seller.

CityLink, the couriers used by P2G collected the mirror on the 24 October and I tracked it (P2G16029249) to a delivery depot on the 25th November at 3:58 and I assume it had arrived safely. I was happy and naively thought it would be delivered to me the next day. I waited and waited but eventually had to contact P2G by chat as I did not hear from them and it seemed to be the only way to contact them. They informed me that they would contact the couriers and would let me know within 48 hours. I waited for 48 hours for their call but again I had to call them. This is when they informed me that the mirror had shattered. I asked them if I could have the frame as it was one of the reasons why I had purchased the mirror and gave them clear instructions not to dispose of it and informed them that I would be happy to collect it from the depot. They said that they would contact the couriers and come back to me within 48hours. Once again I waited and waited and yet again I had to make the call. Their operator informed me that the mirror had been disposed off.

I asked him if they kept any evidence to prove that the mirror was shattered before they had disposed off it due to health and safety. It appears that they don't keep any evidence, so I am unable to tell whether there was any negligence on their part or if there was any other reason why I had not received my parcel.

Given that they are not willing to insure the mirror, shouldn't I have been warned at the onset, that the mirror would be disposed off should it get damaged? Or is this in their small prints?

P2G offered £22.76 as compensation as a gesture of their goodwill, which I have not accepted. I’ve written to George Iveson at P2G, [EMAIL="G.Iveson@Parcel2Go.com"]G.Iveson@Parcel2Go.com[/EMAIL] and am awaiting a response.

This bad experience has taught me to pay more and to use more reputable companies, who would hopefully be more accountable for our parcels (that every parcel matters and not just having a delivery success rate of X %), are able to communicate at their earliest if goods are damaged and in this age of technology are hopefully able to provide at least some photographic evidence, even if it is only online so that their clients can be reassured that it was an unavoidable accident and nothing suspicious (given recent documentaries that have highlighted the behavior of some staff at certain courier companies).

Hence I would like to share my experience and hopefully others can carefully consider their choices beyond just costs.

I would be grateful if anyone could advise me on what my rights are, given my situation. Or should I just take their unreasonable compensation and make better choices in future?

I think your situation is entirely self inflicted and FOR ONCE p2g have gone above and beyond what they need to. When you make a claim for damage the damaged item is no longer your possession to have even if they had provided coverage.

Their offer is fair given they don't cover it (rightly so, mirrors are a specialised transport item and would cost you far more than the drive yourself option).

Their compensation is entire reasonable, in fact I think you're the one being unreasonable I'm afraid.

mije1983

bertie_17 wrote: »

P2G do not cover mirrors.

The mirror was a gift for my parent’s anniversary

At this point I would have passed on using P2G and looked for another courier who would cover mirrors.

custardy

had been adequately bubble wrapped by the seller.

I like this bit better

ThumbRemote

So essentially they've lost the parcel. As such you should be covered for the basic level of compensation, as you didn't take out any further insurance. What should that be?

Littlestars_2

Broken glass is a heath and safety risk and thats why they wouldn't have took the time to remove the broken glass and just del the frame because it could injure someone and also are the expected to unpack the mirror if there is broken glass to take a picture, again that would be a health and safety. Besides mirrors need more than a bit of bubble wrap to protect them so it may be the item was packaged well enought to avoid damage

bertie_17

Just to clarify, the parcel was not lost. The mirror wasshattered during transit. I insisted with P2G in collecting the parcel personally from the warehouse. they were going to get in touch with City Link and come back to me on the answer. When i contacted P2G after 48 hours they informed me that CityLink have disposed of the parcel and i couldn't collect it due to health and safety.
I am sure it is reasonable to have the frame back.

Also the mirror was well packed in cardboard then bubble wrapped for extra protection.

frugal_mike

Cardboard and bubble wrap on their own will not stop the glass shattering. It would need to be in something that wouldn't 'give' when pressed on such as a solid box, and/or would need very careful handling.

visidigi

bertie_17 wrote: »

Just to clarify, the parcel was not lost. The mirror wasshattered during transit. I insisted with P2G in collecting the parcel personally from the warehouse. they were going to get in touch with City Link and come back to me on the answer. When i contacted P2G after 48 hours they informed me that CityLink have disposed of the parcel and i couldn't collect it due to health and safety.
I am sure it is reasonable to have the frame back.

Also the mirror was well packed in cardboard then bubble wrapped for extra protection.

If the item is damaged, then you claim for the value based on the liability level you purchased. Once damaged - its classed as a loss in the industry by the way.

It doesn't matter if it was packed in a car sized block of foam and wrapped in titanium. If P2G says no liability then this doesn't change.

The whole idea you think you should be allowed into a depot to collect an item is a non starter, you have no relationship with City Link, its entirely with P2G.

peachyprice

bertie_17 wrote: »

Just to clarify, the parcel was not lost. The mirror wasshattered during transit. I insisted with P2G in collecting the parcel personally from the warehouse. they were going to get in touch with City Link and come back to me on the answer. When i contacted P2G after 48 hours they informed me that CityLink have disposed of the parcel and i couldn't collect it due to health and safety.
I am sure it is reasonable to have the frame back.

Also the mirror was well packed in cardboard then bubble wrapped for extra protection.

And who do you think should open the package and remove the broken mirror so that you can have the frame back? Their drivers sure as hell shouldn't be expected to transport a shattered mirror, even if it's still in it's inadequate packaging.

ThumbRemote

bertie_17 wrote: »

Just to clarify, the parcel was not lost. The mirror wasshattered during transit. I insisted with P2G in collecting the parcel personally from the warehouse. they were going to get in touch with City Link and come back to me on the answer. When i contacted P2G after 48 hours they informed me that CityLink have disposed of the parcel and i couldn't collect it due to health and safety.
I am sure it is reasonable to have the frame back.

Also the mirror was well packed in cardboard then bubble wrapped for extra protection.

But the parcel is lost. You don't have it, the courier doesn't have it, no-one knows where it is now to give it back to you.